Behold! The electric motorcycle cometh

[TonyB]

Electric motorcycles? Got to be a joke! Bound to be completely bloody useless! Right? Erm.... aparently not.
Have a look at this (http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/4083/) and this (http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/4105/1/)

Still a way to go me thinks, but if they're making the rapid advances they claim, then a rapid electric powered track bike is not far away at all. And if you can't be bothered reading it all, take a look at the attached vid... It's a minibike race, but one of them is electric with a maximum power output lower than it's petrol powered competition

[James Deuce]

They can go "blah, blah, blah" about electric vehicles as much as they want, but when electric motorcycles are the only option, I'm riding a mobility scooter into a sewerage treatment pond so I can be electrocuted up to my neck in poo.

[nicmotors]

mmm i don't really know what to say.
They seem to claim that they can pull higher power to weight ratios with more ease, proving better on the race track,
But really? It just wouldn't sound the same!!

[SPORK]

Do they have gears?

[VasalineWarrior]

Looks like they've still got a ways to go yet. Besides, how would we all get by without our morning dose of partly combused hydrocarbons? Mmm carcenogenic diesel and two stroke fumes :whocares: ...

[Aiolos]

It's a minibike race, but one of them is electric with a maximum power output lower than it's petrol powered competition

The reason it wins is the reason they use electric motors (powered by diesel engines) in trains - Full torque at any rpm.

[Ixion]

Do they do a two stroke version?

[Pixie]

Do they have gears?
No because they don't have the disadvantages that require a gearbox.

[TonyB]

So having an electric motor is kind of like having a large capacity engine in a lower state of tune- more down low but torque but less peak HP. Hmmm, maybe Yamaha are on to something with the MT01.

And I reckon Jims comments hit the nail on the head. Would a bike that makes no noise at all be appealing in any way shape or form, no matter how fast it goes? Does this mean that humans are doomed? :mellow:

[Coyote]

I reckon electric powered bikes would make awesome race bikes. Would be good if they had a few in the MotoGP. That way they would put more development into making them faster

[nicmotors]

However i think they must certainly have their perks, maintenance might be a dream, and the like, but could you pull up to a power station for a 'fill' up on your way down to wellington?? doubt it my friend.

[gamgee]

So having an electric motor is kind of like having a large capacity engine in a lower state of tune- more down low but torque but less peak HP. Hmmm, maybe Yamaha are on to something with the MT01.

And I reckon Jims comments hit the nail on the head. Would a bike that makes no noise at all be appealing in any way shape or form, no matter how fast it goes? Does this mean that humans are doomed? :mellow:

i'm sure someone will find a way to modify them to make more noise, you could always peg a plastic card to your forks to hit the spokes as the wheel turns oldschool style clickclickclickclickclick haha

[T.W.R]

HOW ABOUT HYDROGEN-CELL BIKES (CHECK THE PIC)

[James Deuce]

i'm sure someone will find a way to modify them to make more noise, you could always peg a plastic card to your forks to hit the spokes as the wheel turns oldschool style clickclickclickclickclick haha
LolI was going to suggest that and a banana seat and an orange flag as well.

[parsley]

They can go "blah, blah, blah" about electric vehicles as much as they want, but when electric motorcycles are the only option, I'm riding a mobility scooter into a sewerage treatment pond so I can be electrocuted up to my neck in poo.
Not sure if they'll ever be the same as riding a "classic" bike, but let's face it the way oil prices are heading we might not have a choice. Most experts reckon we're over the hump in terms of oil supplies. Will we end up riding electrics, hydrogens (hydrogenated?), some artificial fuel or a variation on natural fuel (rape, alcohol, chicken shit)? Time will tell.

[James Deuce]

Not sure if they'll ever be the same as riding a "classic" bike, but let's face it the way oil prices are heading we might not have a choice.

Of course we have a choice.

No internal combustion engine = no vehicles or riding/driving for me.

Hydrogen cell vehicles can go hump my leg. Current hydrogen production requires the same energy going into production as you get out of it. Which makes it a much bigger potential polluter than the oil industry.

[TonyB]

The problem with all of these electric vehicles is.... what happens when we are all driving them and we all have to plug them in every night? More power stations. More power lines as our national grid would never cope.

Where do we put the powerstations and what the hell do we power them with?

[parsley]

Of course we have a choice.

No internal combustion engine = no vehicles or riding/driving for me.
Well, yes, you have that choice. But if it's between an electric bike and no bike at all then pass me the AAA's.

[inlinefour]

If that was all that was on offer, I'd quit riding all togther, really who wants to ride that apart form some pussum kissing, tree hugging greenie??? :killingme

[muzz]

I quite like the concept for around the citys and general commuting but give me the roar of the ducati on the open road. You dont need power stations to provide power. The way solar power is advancing with flexable solar panels your bikes fairing could be covered with them charging while your stopped.

[Pathos]

Only real problem with them is the time it would take to charge the batteries.

But if it went main stream and everyone had the same batteries you could just swap yours with one at the gas station that they would charge while not in use.

We'd need a couple nuke pots to keep them running tho.

[muzz]

If you are using the bike as a commuter it sits in the car park all day charging for the ride home. A battery bank at servo's is a good idea. But as the article read technology is advancing all the time new type battarys ,charging systems etc.

[gamgee]

alternator would keep charging it while it's running as well

[froggyfrenchman]

I would rather rip my balls off in the chain of my "fossil" bike than ride a metre on one of those bloody electric excuses of bikes!

[Colapop]

They're going to be an option but I think the reality is combustion engines are going to be around for some time yet. A change in mindset is required - probably by our kids.

[TonyB]

alternator would keep charging it while it's running as well
No mechanical device is 100% efficient- the electric motors will not use 100% of the power from the batteries purley to produce motive power (kinetic energy), and the alternator can not use 100% of the kinetic energy it receives to produce electricity. Therefore putting an alternator of any kind on the machine will only serve to slow it down and make it less efficient. What you CAN do is use the alternator as a brake- then this can charge the battery a bit as you are slowing down.

[onearmedbandit]

In a backwards world, if electric vehicles were the norm and someone suggested an internal combustion engine powered bike that needed to be regulary maintained, serviced, had so many moving parts, ran different according to atmopsheric conditions (carb'ed bikes mainly, as the majority of bikes owned by members here are), needed a gearbox designed around the engines 'flaws', etc the reaction I think would be more extreme than what we are seeing here.

I'm going against the flow here, I would glady try an electric powered motorcycle (sports performance style) with an eye to owning one if they were proven and had the infrastructure to run them. Having 100%of your torque available at any rpm would be incredible out of corners, never being in the wrong gear (as you would only need one) means instant acceleration, dialed in by your right wrist. Corner entries would be smoother, allowing you to concentrate on your line, not changing down the 'box and keeping the bike settle with the different rate of deceleration.

Yup, I'd be keen to look at it.

[Ivan]

It would be so cool I would try one for the hell of it If someone sponsered me to race out in 600 supersport on it I would think about the tourquq of the line and outta the bends now I know were Rossi gets his power from but they need to start ryling these motors in frames like the Malaguti it might give it a chance of the KR proton spark up a relationship with them I think youd see them become a winner in a few years I mean look at theat video Gav posted now that was cool

[Toast]

Another story on that site about the 'diesel superbike' is interesting too. '205kg ready to ride' with potentially 100hp and heaps of torque.

http://www.gizmag.com.au/go/4273/1/

[Toast]

The problem with all of these electric vehicles is.... what happens when we are all driving them and we all have to plug them in every night? More power stations. More power lines as our national grid would never cope.

Where do we put the powerstations and what the hell do we power them with?

That's the screwed up thing about many of these electric vehicles...in many countries most of the electricity comes from coal or gas anyway.

[RiderInBlack]

Me, I'd go for a "Back To The Future" "Mr Fussion" system for my future bike. Too bad we'd have to get over our nuke fears but.

Another form of power would be "Growing" a real "Muscle" bike. A totally organic "Engine" GE'ed. We would have to get over our GE fears for that, but when you look at the 80% effency our muscles have of converting fuel to energy, and that we could grow it's fuel supply, it might be worth looking it.

Just a crazy couple of ideas, but don't laugh to hard cause it's the crazy ideas that have got us this far. Boy did we used to laugh at the idea of man flying, or even being able to survive going any faster than the "Break Neck" speed of 30MPH.

One day the people of the future will think us funny with our out dated combustion hang-ups.

[Coyote]

They're going to be an option but I think the reality is combustion engines are going to be around for some time yet. A change in mindset is required - probably by our kids.
Oh nah. We'll just keep polluting till we die and dump all our problems on the next generation. It's what big business has been doing for years and it’s worked for them. Supposedly the earth will become uninhabitable in 100 years time, so I'm in the clear. Fuck anyone younger than me

Shit, gotta stop talking right wing crap. Been reading too many of LiasTZ posts

[James Deuce]

Oh nah. We'll just keep polluting till we die and dump all our problems on the next generation. It's what big business has been doing for years and it’s worked for them. Supposedly the earth will become uninhabitable in 100 years time, so I'm in the clear. Fuck anyone younger than me

Shit, gotta stop talking right wing crap. Been reading too many of LiasTZ posts

The single biggest contributor of greenhouse gases to out atmosphere are our oceans, and in particular the mid-Atlantic trench. A very, very, very, very distant second are coal and oil fired power stations. The best way to reduce pollution is to fit houses and buildings out so they only draw on the grid when it's dark or very cold.. Colapop is right in one sense, but wrong that our kids need to change their attitudes. We all need to do it now. But the internal combustion engine is nowhere near the evil it was 25 years ago. It is approaching 20% thermal efficiency, up from 4-8% only 20 years ago.

[nicmotors]

O.K, O.K.
Here's the big question:
Do you honestly think you would be able to pull the chicks with a "motorbike" which had a "black and decker" charging stand?!! or say you were cruising down a popular street and some people misstook the noise for a dust-buster. I mean really it just cant work in my head how they can have a "cool" factor to them.

However sure i bet they can hussel when it comes to performance, they just won't be anywhere near as cool as a petrol burning ozone hating noise polluting ride..
Well that my 2 cent worth :niceone:

[SPORK]

Slap some gears on one and I'm in!

Inline 4s sound enough like turbines as it is...

[onearmedbandit]

O.K, O.K.
Here's the big question:
Do you honestly think you would be able to pull the chicks with a "motorbike" which had a "black and decker" charging stand?!! or say you were cruising down a popular street and some people misstook the noise for a dust-buster. I mean really it just cant work in my head how they can have a "cool" factor to them.

However sure i bet they can hussel when it comes to performance, they just won't be anywhere near as cool as a petrol burning ozone hating noise polluting ride..
Well that my 2 cent worth :niceone:

Funny that, never bought or riden a bike 'to pull the chicks with'. Each to their own.

[nicmotors]

Funny that, never bought or riden a bike 'to pull the chicks with'. Each to their own.


Yeah fair enuf!! Can't actually say it worked for me. But the missus and her mates love the sound of the motor... so i guess putting two and two together, the chances are it worked at least once for me, unintenionally :whistle:

[Pixie]

The problem with all of these electric vehicles is.... what happens when we are all driving them and we all have to plug them in every night? More power stations. More power lines as our national grid would never cope.

Where do we put the powerstations and what the hell do we power them with?
Yep! and the only way to provide that amount of energy is nuclear.
Then the Greenies will realise that they brought on the advance of the nuclear industry and in their shame and embarassment,will commit mass suicide via mung bean overdose :niceone:

[Pixie]

In a backwards world, if electric vehicles were the norm and someone suggested an internal combustion engine powered bike that needed to be regulary maintained, serviced, had so many moving parts, ran different according to atmopsheric conditions (carb'ed bikes mainly, as the majority of bikes owned by members here are), needed a gearbox designed around the engines 'flaws', etc the reaction I think would be more extreme than what we are seeing here.

I'm going against the flow here, I would glady try an electric powered motorcycle (sports performance style) with an eye to owning one if they were proven and had the infrastructure to run them. Having 100%of your torque available at any rpm would be incredible out of corners, never being in the wrong gear (as you would only need one) means instant acceleration, dialed in by your right wrist. Corner entries would be smoother, allowing you to concentrate on your line, not changing down the 'box and keeping the bike settle with the different rate of deceleration.

Yup, I'd be keen to look at it.
The "antis" sound just like the "I'm not going to ride no 4 cylinder 2 wheeled car,I want a real British bike" types of the late sixties.
If it's fast, powerful, light and handles,I don't give a toss how it's powered.
And noise is just a wank.

[zadok]

Electra. Somewhat restricted. Cruise at up to 35mph and only has a range of 40 miles (64km).

[zadok]

Electra. Somewhat restricted. Cruise at up to 35mph and only has a range of 40 miles (64km).
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mclectra/emb.html

[TonyB]

The "antis" sound just like the "I'm not going to ride no 4 cylinder 2 wheeled car,I want a real British bike" types of the late sixties.
If it's fast, powerful, light and handles,I don't give a toss how it's powered.
And noise is just a wank.
You definitely have a point there.

[James Deuce]

The "antis" sound just like the "I'm not going to ride no 4 cylinder 2 wheeled car,I want a real British bike" types of the late sixties.
If it's fast, powerful, light and handles,I don't give a toss how it's powered.
And noise is just a wank.

Exactly. Want I want to know is, how come it's OK to call reactionaries (like me) names ("wank")? The day they make an electric bike that has a max speed of 260km/hr and a range of 300kms, and corners like my R6, all for less than $20k I'll buy it. Oh yeah it has to weigh 162kgs or less dry. Or in this case including battery, less acid.

It's a point that has been made by people for centuries though, and yes there is a ring of truth to it, but I don't actually see the end of petrochemical powered vehicles corresponding to an "alternative" form of motive power for personal transport. I think the era of individually owned personal transport is coming to a close.

[onearmedbandit]

Obviously we're talking about comparative, or better stat's than current bikes. That's a give-in.

End of individually owned personal transport. Well no-one can argue that it wont happen, however I see it being a very far off event. In fact with advances by companies like Toyota (went to their pavilion at World Expo in Japan this year) maybe that day will never come, but what we use for individually owned transport will be completely different.

[myvice]

[font=Comic Sans MS][color=#4169e1] Another form of power would be "Growing" a real "Muscle" bike. A totally organic "Engine" GE'ed. We would have to get over our GE fears for that, but when you look at the 80% effency our muscles have of converting fuel to energy, and that we could grow it's fuel supply, it might be worth looking it.
[font=Comic Sans MS][color=#4169e1].
Isnt that called a horse?